A friend of mine with a personal blog does all of her posts as a list of three items related to a theme. I find myself thinking up posts with that format now as well, though I often don’t managed to write them. Now since I am writing this post on my phone, via dictation, I think a nice simple structure is helpful.
Dd is now about two months old. I have lots to say about our experiences so far but will limit myself to three ways parenting has been different the second time around so far.
1) nursing
Nursing a newborn requires a lot of learning on the part of both the mother and the baby, but this time I was surprised by how much my prior knowledge helped. Dd regained his birth weight a little bit faster than D did. I was less concerned about the initial pain and more confident that we would get through the tricky beginning phase.
2) confidence
Many people have told me that their second child was much easier because they weren’t “freaking out about things.” I bristle a little bit at describing our first parenting experience in that way, but certainly recognize that we have more confidence this time. Talking to other new moms I am feeling very grateful for Jack’s competence. One night a week we’ve been doing a complicated routine where I walk both boys to swimming pool for D’s lesson, then Jack meets us there and we transfer Dd (often asleep) in the carrier from my body to Jack’s body. Then Jack helps D get dressed while I swim laps and meet them at home for dinner. I think this is much more than the average first time dad could handle.
3) schedule
Parenthood imposed a higher degree of scheduling on our lives and most of the schedule marches on despite the fact that I am on maternity leave. We still have dinner times and bed times and preschool obligations. While I dislike dragging Dd along in the car to drop off D, I feel like the structure and social contact required by D’s life reduces my risk of depression while facing a dark winter with a young baby.
Dd is now about two months old. I have lots to say about our experiences so far but will limit myself to three ways parenting has been different the second time around so far.
1) nursing
Nursing a newborn requires a lot of learning on the part of both the mother and the baby, but this time I was surprised by how much my prior knowledge helped. Dd regained his birth weight a little bit faster than D did. I was less concerned about the initial pain and more confident that we would get through the tricky beginning phase.
2) confidence
Many people have told me that their second child was much easier because they weren’t “freaking out about things.” I bristle a little bit at describing our first parenting experience in that way, but certainly recognize that we have more confidence this time. Talking to other new moms I am feeling very grateful for Jack’s competence. One night a week we’ve been doing a complicated routine where I walk both boys to swimming pool for D’s lesson, then Jack meets us there and we transfer Dd (often asleep) in the carrier from my body to Jack’s body. Then Jack helps D get dressed while I swim laps and meet them at home for dinner. I think this is much more than the average first time dad could handle.
3) schedule
Parenthood imposed a higher degree of scheduling on our lives and most of the schedule marches on despite the fact that I am on maternity leave. We still have dinner times and bed times and preschool obligations. While I dislike dragging Dd along in the car to drop off D, I feel like the structure and social contact required by D’s life reduces my risk of depression while facing a dark winter with a young baby.
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